ReciprocalLink.Com / Reciprocal Link Articles / Top Ten Things Not to Do...   Top ten Things Not to Do When Asking to Trade Reciprocal Links When you E-Mail or otherwise contact webmasters to ask to trade reciprocal links, you usually get one shot to make a good impression. Here are ten things I have seen in webmaster letters written to myself asking for reciprocal links. Needless to say, the results such webmasters receive is not often what they wanted. 10) DO NOT WRITE IN CAPITAL LETTERS. WHEN SOMEONE WRITES IN CAPITAL LETTERS IT IS CONSIDERED SHOUTING. 9) Do not forget to mention your own web address in the message. Yes, I have received great letters about how I should reciprocally link to a site and the webmaster forgot the address. 8) Likewise, do not forget to mention your website's name. Don't forget to describe it, either. No, this does not mean that you should deliver a media kit; just give me a few sentences or a paragraph summarizing your website. If your website is a personal page, just say so! Trust me, we'll find this out later when/if we visit your site. 7) Do not include a 100k attachment with the website's complete package of buttons, animated banners, JavaScript code, etc. usable in a reciprocal link campaign. I admit that for a while, I did not like it when anyone started a conversation with an attachment of any size, but that has changed. Large attachments, however, are not the way to start a conversation. Ask the webmaster if they would like your complete package of reciprocal link codes and graphics BEFORE you send such information. 6) Do not forget to let the webmaster know how they can add a link to your website! You can do this without sending them a complete package of graphics and code as listed above. In your first correspondence, either give them a snippet of HTML that they can place on their website, or on your own website (you did give your URL, didn't you???), provide the code and graphics. Page 2 ->